How does government work in Maryland?

What may surprise you here

• Baltimore City is not part of any county. The state treats it as one of 24 main local jurisdictions alongside the 23 counties. source
• The governor appoints the Secretary of State, who serves until the end of the governor’s term. source
• Each legislative district elects one senator and three delegates. source

Legislature

Name

General Assembly of Maryland source

Senate: seats

47 source

Senate: term in years

4 source

House of Delegates: seats

141 source

House of Delegates: term in years

4 source

Term limits

None source

Structure set by: Maryland Constitution, Article III, Sections 1 and 2.

Governor and statewide offices

Term in years

4 source

Term limit

Ineligible to succeed self after two consecutive elected terms source

Next regular election

2030 source

Lieutenant governor

joint ticket source

Attorney general

elected source

Attorney general’s term in years

4 source

Secretary of state

appointed by governor source

Courts

Highest court

Supreme Court of Maryland source

Intermediate appeals court

Appellate Court of Maryland source

Main trial court

Circuit Courts source

How high-court judges reach the bench

mixed: governor appoints appellate judges with Senate consent, then voters decide on retention; circuit court judges are appointed to fill vacancies and then elected source

Local government

Called

county source

How many

23 source

Cities and towns

Baltimore City is a municipality that is treated on a par with the counties, and 12 counties are governed by boards of county commissioners while 11 have charter governments. source

Schools

School systems are run by 24 independent local school systems, one for each county and Baltimore City. source

Elections

Chief election official

State Administrator of Elections (chosen by the State Board of Elections) source

Who runs elections locally

County boards of elections source

Primary type

partially closed source

Regular governor elections fall in

even source

Citizen initiatives

referendum only source

Who holds these offices

As of November 5, 2026. Terms of the current Congress run to January 3, 2027. Winners of the November 3, 2026 elections are not shown until results are certified and they take office.

Governor: Wes Moore DDemocratic, in office since January 18, 2023. source

Who has held each Senate seat since 2001

Each band is one person in the seat. The line marks November 2026; anything to its right is the rest of a current term. Dates through 2026 come from the congress-legislators public dataset, whose current members are matched against the Senate’s own roster on every build.

Sources